City of Surrey Commits to Cybersecurity Innovation and Solutions with International Partnership

October 12, 2017

Surrey, BC – The City of Surrey has become one of 14 founding partners in a global consortium committed to creating and adopting solutions to cybersecurity challenges, both current and emergent. The partnership, called ‘Global EPIC’ (Global Ecosystem of Ecosystems Partnership in Innovation and Cybersecurity), held its inaugural meeting this week in Krakow, Poland, as a part of the 3rd annual European Cybersecurity Forum (CYBERSEC).

Cybersecurity threats are a global challenge; attacks disrupt local modern living and affect all sectors and levels of society. Global EPIC has been formed to strengthen collaboration among regions from around the globe to address this challenge. Bringing together academia, industry and government to combine their knowledge, experience and expertise, the partnership will develop innovative solutions, drive knowledge sharing, perform trend analyses and research, influence and set international standards.

“As a city striving to put our communities at the forefront of the digital economy, we need to address cybersecurity risks to make sure that as Surrey grows into the region’s second metropolitan centre it also remains a place that is safe to live and conduct business,” said Mayor Linda Hepner. “Collaborating internationally to solve this issue is forward-thinking and seeks to protect the best interests of our citizens.”

“I expect important economic benefits, such as job creation, revenue enhancement and investment,’’ said Dan Craigen, Director of Carleton University, Canada’s Global Cybersecurity Resource (GCR), which equips high growth companies with the skills, resources and linkages required to develop novel cyber products and services, with the explicit intent that “companies must scale globally and securely to succeed.”

Izabela Albrycht, Chairperson of the Kosciuszko Institute and Chair of the CYBERSEC Organizing Committee said “Building a global knowledge sharing community with cross-sectoral stakeholders is a must, in the face of rapidly expanding cyber threats. Today, here in Krakow, we are laying the foundations of the platform which, as we hope, will bring innovators at the forefront of the fight against emerging cyber-challenges.”

As an important and emerging issue in safety, addressing cybersecurity is a deliverable of the City of Surrey’s Public Safety Strategy. ‘Be Safe Online’ is a City outreach program designed to help residents and businesses by providing access to cyber security education and information resources. The goal is to reduce the incidence of cybercrime in Surrey by ensuring that individuals and businesses are not only aware of the risks, but that they implement actions to improve their safety online. For more information visit www.surrey.ca/BeSafeOnline.

Global EPIC’s 14 founding partners come from 10 different countries spanning three continents. The partnership is seeking to grow its membership and has set a target of 50 members by October 2020. For further information on Global EPIC and how to join can be found at www.globalepic.org.

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For program information:
Sean Simpson
Director, Information Technology
City of Surrey
STSimpson@surrey.ca
604-591-4730

For media interviews:
Oliver Lum
Communications Manager, Office of the Mayor
City of Surrey
OWLum@surrey.ca
604-591-4519